How the 2012 Presidential Election May Affect Notre Dame’s Chances

Now that the 2012 Presidential Election has passed, there are a wide variety of questions concerning how four more years with President Obama in the White House will affect the economy, foreign policy, and social issues. Here’s another interesting question: does his reelection have any bearing on Notre Dame football? Does history tell us that the Irish perform better when a Democrat is in office? After running the numbers, that may just be so.

Beginning with Notre Dame’s first football season back in 1887, I calculated the team’s record during each president’s term (beginning with Grover Cleveland). By adding up these records, I determined that the Irish perform slightly better when Democrats are in office (.746 winning percentage) as opposed to Republicans (.722). In addition, four of Notre Dame’s seven Heisman Trophy winners won the award while Democrats controlled the White House. Finally, the Irish won six of their 11 national tittles under Democrats. That being said, the president with the ‘winningest’ record is Republican William Howard Taft (24-1-4, .896 winning percentage).

So what is the future of Notre Dame football? Nobody knows. But if history is indicative of anything, four more years with a Democrat in office may work out to the team’s benefit (if you are superstitious, that is).